Recently, our ongoing modal journey has drawn us into the land of harmony. In the previous Back Track installment (Dorian Grooves, Sept. ’00 GP), we saw how notes from the Dorian mode can be combined to create Im, IV, Vm, and bVII triads; we also discovered that progressions built from these chords will support improvised Dorian lines. The trick is to play the Dorian mode starting from the Im’s root. We’ve explored a similar relationship between the Mixolydian mode and chords built from its note...
Sep 09, 2009•9 min
The queen of Delta blues guitar sits in and serves up a lesson on authentic country blues strumming. If you want to get next to the concepts laid down by Tommy Johnson, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Skip James, and Willie Brown, you'll find this lesson a watershed. Rory uses Tommy Johnson's classic "Big Road Blues" as a foundation for teaching a series of techniques: bass notes followed by one or two strums; strumming sixteenth notes; pounding (hitting your guitar top in conjunction with a str...
Sep 02, 2009•7 min
If you can play a blues, funk, reggae, or swing-jazz shuffle, you’re familiar with 12/8 time. You may even understand the mechanics of 12/8 after all, it’s simply 4/4 time with three eighth-notes per downbeat instead of just two. But do you have 12/8 truly nailed? One way to find out and become more groove literate in the process is to learn the Agbekor bell pattern. This must-know African rhythm shows up everywhere, including Cuban and Caribbean music, and in western pop, funk, and jazz. Let To...
Aug 26, 2009•6 min
From Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," to the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post, to Zappa to Rush, odd time signatures pop up occasionally in American music. In other lands, like Turkey or Armenia, they're quite common. Tim submits four distinctive picking patterns that will get you familiar with subdivisions of the beat in odd meter, and get your picking hand moving fluidly. Try 7/8, 9/8, 11/16 and 10/16, with cool chords and licks. (once you get comfortable with the picking, substitute your own change...
Aug 20, 2009•7 min
Since the early 60's fingerpicking has been synonymous with American folk music, the steelstring flat-top guitar, and the coffeehouse scene. But you don't have to be a folkie-or even play acoustic guitar-to benefit from pattern-based picking. There's plenty of opportunity to adapt fingerpicking's supple, rhythmic energy to contemporary music. The trick is to mate traditional picking-hand moves with modern voicings and timbres. In this two-part lesson, we'll do just that. This lesson includes Pow...
Aug 12, 2009•9 min
If you're an acoustic player, Chet is one of the godheads. In this beefy 10-part lesson, get into the legend's style of using the thumb to keep a steady bass line while letting the fingers take care of the melody and the rest of the accompaniment. "Work to get your thumb on automatic pilot", Chet encourages. Also, try out Chet's boom-chick style and dig his take on arpeggios. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1646 (log-in to...
Aug 07, 2009•6 min
Travis picking never grows old. It sounds as hip today as on '50s Elvis sides like "Mystery Train" and "That's Alright Mama." Steve's lesson is a 24-bar blues that includes four must-know Travis licks. Remember, the foundation for this technique is the strong, alternating quarter-note bass line, played with flatpicked downstrokes. This blues will get you into the finer points of the Travis picking thang. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_les...
Jul 29, 2009•3 min
Travis picking, a thumb-and-finger style that changed the guitar world - is an essential technique. Playing country without it is like driving a pickup with three wheels. It starts with alternating bass fingerpicking - boom-chuck-boom-chuck - and factors in all sorts of other maneuvers. Through the years, Merle's thing has been built upon. Mark examines the development of the style. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1889 (lo...
Jul 29, 2009•10 min
You can't really be bluesy without getting slurry and slide-y. That's where double-stops come in. They work great as chordal indicators, harmonized solos, turnarounds and more. In this lesson, Dave concentrates on double-stops in sixths. Ex. 3 lays out the absolutely crucial sliding 9th' lick from blues standards like 'Stormy Monday.' Dave tosses in a bonus jam at the end, incorporating Robert Johnson's signature dominant/diminished chord turnaround. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available a...
Jul 29, 2009•7 min
Okay, time to head out to the country. You don't become a C&W picker without mastering Travis picking, where your thumb plays a steady rhythmic bass, while your index and middle fingers play the melody notes on the high strings. Off-beat treble notes create a syncopation that lends the style its signature. Happy serves up a basic version of the traditional "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains," and then gussies the tune up with some slides, hammers, pulls and, ultimately, twang. Tab, n...
Jul 29, 2009•5 min
From secret uses of the pentatonic scale to bluegrass, bebop blues, free jazz, and chord melody, Jimmy Herring—with a heaping helping of Southern hospitality—is about to share with you several inspiring musical examples. Hopefully, they’ll take your soloing as well as your entire concept of improvisation to new dimensions. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=4007 (log-in to access streaming audio and files)
Jan 21, 2009•12 min
EVH opens the article by fessin' up about how much he stole, note for note, from Eric Clapton. Here's your chance to rip off Edward. This lesson runs you through blues progression, hammer-ons, pull-offs. slides, bends and a few of Ed's key licks, harmonics and tapping. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1157 (log-in to access streaming audio and files)
Jan 02, 2009•8 min
Proto-metalist Blackmore, who bridged the gap between blues-drenched rockers of the '60s and the lightning-fingered shredders of today. His band, Deep Purple, helped pioneer the heavy power chord thing. This 13-part lesson gives you some keen insights on how to temper the shred a tad and still play in the hard-rock zone. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1083 (log-in to access streaming audio and files
Jan 02, 2009•7 min
A master of many blues styles, Duke Robillard garners particular acclaim for his jump and swing playing. When he recently performed at a San Francisco music festival, Andy Ellis seized the opportunity to take a lesson in uptown blues. Robillard's music is full of jazzy turnarounds and sneaky substitutions, so he was asked to explain how he transforms a typical I-IV-V, 12-bar progression into something with more harmonic pizzazz. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/...
Dec 26, 2008•23 min
You can trace rockabilly back to Merle Travis. In themid ’50s, when rockabilly pioneers such as Scotty Moore, Paul Burlison, Cliff Gallup, Joe Maphis, and Carl Perkins hot-rodded the basic Travis fingerpicking pattern, all hell broke loose. Thanks to the Stray Cats, rockabilly made a resurgence in the early ’80s.The riffs, chords, turnarounds, and endings in this lesson will give you a firm grasp of rockabilly basics.. Practice diligently, and before you know it, you’ll be ready to rock the join...
Dec 10, 2008•10 min
Most guitarists recognize the E minor pentatonic scale - and with good reason. After all, it is the world’s most popular launching pad for rock solos and blues leads in the key of E. More advanced players know that the same notes also spell the G major pentatonic scale — G being the relative major of E minor. But if you take this scale and “fill in the blanks” with passing tones you’ll open up a world of melodic possibility. And without ever stepping out of this twelfth position “box,” you’ll ha...
Dec 10, 2008•2 min
More than 60 years after its recording, Blind Blake’s rambunctious Diddie Wa Diddie, a double-entendre ragtime blues, still stands as a fingerpicking classic. Blake's musical vocabulary is prodigious, and his improvisational flair has seldom been matched. Each of the tune's stanzas features a distinctively different accompaniment, and each of the three instrumental breaks is a minor masterpiece in itself. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_le...
Nov 11, 2008•8 min
Is there anything more seductively rootsy than metallic slide musings on a glimmering National steel guitar? In this two-part lesson, Brozman, one of the foremost authorities on the instrument, takes you on an exciting journey that demystifies a lot of slide techniques. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1161 (log-in to access streaming audio and files).
Oct 20, 2008•13 min
Eric Johnson has a deep bag but this lesson concentrates on his aggressive combinations of single-note and chords, which, he says, adds a "potent yin-yang tension". Plenty of yin and yang in this 19-example lesson. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1160 (log-in to access streaming audio and files).
Sep 30, 2008•7 min
Before you dig in, a quick announcement ... We just launched a new video podcast on iTunes that we call Guitar Sherpa. We've already stoked it up with some of our favorite vids including this performance of Billie's Bounce from young Swedish jazz master Andreas Oberg. You can check out Guitar Sherpa on iTunes at: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=289090432 Yes, we'll keep these audio podcast coming as well and there's tons more on its way to your earbud. Now dig th...
Sep 24, 2008•7 min
McErlain shows you one of Chris's more twisted blues pieces, played on open-tuned Dobro. Chris describes it as Bukka White meets Thelonius Monk. Need we say more? Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=2042 (log-in to access streaming audio and files).
Sep 21, 2008•7 min
Burrell's funky comping powers many of the best late 50s and 60s beatnik-jazz records. Andy Ellis helps you summon this late-night mood by using the comping moves in this rhythm figure. Played at faster tempos and with a tighter feel, the lower line is the foundation for '50s rock and and much of '60s soul and honky tonk. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=2398 (log-in to access streaming audio and files).
Mar 16, 2006•6 min
It's an amazing sight. Armed exclusively with a twangy 6-string resonator-an instrument most audience members associate with the likes of Son House and accompanied by a pumping drums-and-bass rhythm section, the lanky, tattooed, 6'2" Eric Sardinas delivers a fast-paced set of adrenaline-drenched blues. But because Sardinas cranks through a Rivera half-stack and displays a penchant for crunchy, feedback-laced tones, his wicked solos evoke Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman, even as they pay homage to ...
Mar 02, 2006•3 min
She's not only an enchanting singer and superb songwriter, but Joni Mitchell is also an outstanding player and master of open tunings. This lesson from Andy Ellis, explores her penchant for open tunings, and details how she uses these tunings to spur inspirations for songs including how she developed the classic riff for "Big Yellow Taxi" out of open D. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1222 (log-in to access streaming audio...
Feb 21, 2006•7 min
Few guitarists become so strongly identified with a genre of music as John Lee Hooker and his timeless boogie. Hooker laid down his share of classics, such as "Boogie Chillen" (a.k.a. "Boogie Chillun"), "I'm in the Mood," and "Boom Boom," and inspired a host of musicians to elaborate on his insistent, hypnotic themes. ZZ Top ("La Grange"), one-hit wonder Norman Greenbaum ("Spirit in the Sky"), Booker T. & the MG's ("Green Onions"), Stevie Wonder ("Higher Ground"), and even Steely Dan ("Black...
Jan 27, 2006•1 min
Even metal icons like Metallica's Kirk Hammett go searching for the roots. This lesson deals with his recent interest in the blues and how using blues style can add emotional heft to your hard-rock solos. Instead of just shredding through modes and scales, Hammett is interested in phrasing and bends. Fig. 1 is a cool blues-rock lick that you can master and include in metal solos. One among several. 3120, Achtung Baby!, (The Sound & The Fury/Kirk Hammett). When you're a rocker and you get up ...
Jan 17, 2006•2 min
When most guitarists think of the Allman Brothers Band, the image usually held in their minds is that of the late, great slide master Duane Allman. While Duane was a peerless icon of the electric blues, his counterpart in the Allmans' potent twin-guitar assault, Dickey Betts, was equally responsible for the group's innovative sound. Betts injected the band with a healthy dose of jazz and country, and was the major architect of the Allmans' extended in-concert improvisational forays. Protracted i...
Jan 05, 2006•8 min
Want to be a better player? Of course we all do. That's why we practice. So why does it seem like all that practice time isn't paying off? It could be because you're not practicing the right stuff. Guitarists tend to associate the term chops with playing fast. And while technical proficiency is definitely part of the equation, there's a lot more to chops than just burning through scales. To really grab a listener's attention you've got to play with confidence and conviction. You need accuracy, d...
Dec 14, 2005•12 min
He's one of the most under-heralded geniuses of the jazz guitar. After cutting his teeth on the NYC bebop scene of the late '40s, and building a rep with vibraphonist Red Norvo, Farlow receded from jazz life to live in a shore town in New Jersey. Pete Wagula's lesson examines the titan's style, with a predilection for chord melody, but an astonishing facility for single-note runs and double stops. Farlow, renowned for his big hands, will test your stretching capabilities. Overall, an invaluable ...
Dec 13, 2005•4 min
Rockabilly is a kissin' cousin of Jazz, with twangy tone and playful techniques disguising an often very sophisticated harmonic and melodic structure. Jim Campilongo lays out some of that tricky stuff-arpeggios, altered tones and substitute chords- in clear detail, giving you enough ideas to fuel your playing for weeks to come. Tab, notation and Power Tab files available at http://truefire.com/list.html?store=audio_lessons&item=1571 (log-in to access streaming audio and files).
Dec 12, 2005•5 min
